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Katy Perry Does Bar Mitzvahs Now, Too

The pop star dresses up as bar mitzvah DJ Yosef Shulem in new music video

by
Lily Wilf
April 24, 2014
Katy Perry as bar mitzvah DJ Yosef Shalom in her new music video.(YouTube)
Katy Perry as bar mitzvah DJ Yosef Shalom in her new music video.(YouTube)

Pop star and diva extraordinaire Katy Perry has traded in her notorious neon-blue hair and food-inspired outfits for an even more perplexing get-up: tacky bar mitzvah DJ. In the “ridiculous” music video video for her new single “Birthday,” Perry goes to real birthday parties dressed as five of the ‘world’s worst birthday party entertainers.’ One, apparently, is bar mitzvah emcee Yosef Shulem.

Wearing a wrinkled gray suit and a yarmulke, Perry takes on the Borat-like persona of a sweaty, sputtering Jewish DJ, in a performance that left us wondering whether she’s ever actually been to a bar mitzvah. The video—in which Perry also masquerades as a washed-up Vegas dancer, a drunk clown, and self-absorbed Disney princess—is absurd enough to make even the craziest Katy Perry fan squirm.

“Have you heard about the rabbi who did free circumcisions?” Shulem asks during the video’s intro. “He only did it for the tips!”

Sigh. At least the bar mitzvah boy seems to be having fun?

Lily Wilf is an editorial intern at Tablet.